Halliburton's Dubai move sparks US political ire

[gldstwmn]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070312...y_070312151623

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A weekend announcement by Halliburton, the US oil services giant, that it is shifting its corporate headquarters to Dubai from Texas triggered an angry response from some US lawmakers Monday.

Halliburton, which was once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, said Sunday it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the region's booming energy market.

"It's an example of corporate greed at its worst," Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

"This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years," he charged.

"At the same time they'll be avoiding US taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash."

Halliburton and its former KBR subsidiary, which it is spinning off, have weathered several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid 2.4 billion dollar contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

KBR agreed last year to pay the US government eight million dollars to settle fraud claims related to an Army supply contract.

Halliburton said it was relocating to Dubai on business grounds. The firm said that over 38 percent of its 13 billion dollar oil-field services revenue was generated from the eastern hemisphere.

It also said its move to the United Arab Emirates was the next step in a strategic plan unveiled in 2006 to boost its business with national oil companies in and around the Gulf region.

Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, said the lawmaker might convene a hearing in the House of Representatives over Halliburton's announcement.

"This is a surprising development. I want to understand the ramifications for the US taxpayer and national security," Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement.

Halliburton's chief executive, Dave Lesar, will move his office from Houston, Texas to Dubai in a bid to oversee a ramped-up bid to gain more regional oil services contracts and other related business.

Weekend press reports said Halliburton still intended to keep its US legal registration, but a company spokesperson could not be reached to confirm this.

The global firm has operations in 70 countries and more than 45,000 employees.

[strandinthewind]

Though I think the company is slimy in their connections with the US govt. for the last like 20 years, I agree this move makes good business sense.

Here is some info on Halliburton's longstanding history with the feds

http://halliburtonhell.blogspot.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9503017/

[markolas]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Though I think the company is slimy in their connections with the US govt. for the last like 20 years, I agree this move makes good business sense.

Well, lots of things make good business sense. It made good business sense for that dirtbag salesman to sell me a car at twice what it was worth. That doesn't mean that if I ever saw the guy again that I wouldn't mow him down with said car, nor that he wouldn't deserve every moment of his slow, agonizing death.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by markolas

Well, lots of things make good business sense. It made good business sense for that dirtbag salesman to sell me a car at twice what it was worth. That doesn't mean that if I ever saw the guy again that I wouldn't mow him down with said car, nor that he wouldn't deserve every moment of his slow, agonizing death.

BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, bet you never go in informationally unarmed again

[markolas]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, bet you never go in informationally unarmed again

No, I bet I don't, either. After all was said and done, I told the guy "I think I made a mistake." His exact words to me were, "We all make mistakes in life." :shock:

Actually, I'm going to make sure the next mofo makes no commission off of me whatsoever.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by markolas

No, I bet I don't, either. After all was said and done, I told the guy "I think I made a mistake." His exact words to me were, "We all make mistakes in life." :shock:

Actually, I'm going to make sure the next mofo makes no commission off of me whatsoever.

I bought my car on eBay. I got an excellent deal.

[estranged4life]

The Oklahoman
March 13,2007

Few cheer Halliburton move
Residents of its ex-hometown voice dismay.

By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer

DUNCAN — Not too long ago, people speaking poorly of Halliburton in its birthplace likely would have requested anonymity, but now it's the company's defenders who are trying to stay unnoticed.

From 1921, when the company was moved to Duncan by founder Erle P. Halliburton, until its move to Dallas in 1961, Duncan was a Halliburton town. For years after, however, the company's presence remained with more than 4,100 on the local payroll through 1982. The work force was estimated at 2,200 last year, but that hasn't kept retirees, residents and merchants from concluding that Halliburton establishing a headquarters in Dubai is not the Halliburton they remember.

"This used to be a loyal Halliburton town,” Rosella McQuain said. "Now it's just ... blah. Erle P. is probably spinning in his grave. He's probably in China by now.”

McQuain and her husband, Bill, who worked for the company for 35 years, no longer are surprised by any news they hear about Halliburton.

"Whether they're moving for tax reasons or something else, who knows,” Bill McQuain said. "I just don't know what they're up to anymore.”

The news was not particularly endearing to residents of this former Halliburton headquarters town.

The divide in Duncan over Halliburton was evident last year when the company held its stockholders meeting here. Townsfolk still speak of the pastor fired by his church because he joined a protest against Halliburton's contracts in Iraq.

One defender, who wouldn't give his name Monday, said the company's decision to move its corporate headquarters won't result in major job transfers to the Middle East, and fits its history of maintaining smaller headquarters operations within each division. The man, accompanied by a woman described as a "Halliburton legacy” — someone who inherited stock — still lambasted Chief Executive Dave Lesar as someone who cannot be trusted.

At Duncan's Main Street office, director Tammy Johnson and Suzanne Britten, owner of the Antique Mall of Duncan, agreed Erle P. Halliburton never would have approved of Lesar's decision.

Johnson said she stopped doing her hair as the story was aired on the TV show "Good Morning America.”

"I was stunned,” Johnson said. "They had to put a notation in there that they wanted to explore oil possibilities in the Middle East. That right there just blew it out of the water. They're already doing that. But it also proves all these politics, that it's all about the oil.”

Britten said local attitudes about Halliburton changed gradually over two decades as it increasingly abandoned its hometown.

At The Grill cafe in downtown Duncan, retiree Bond Terry and wife, Mattie, took opposite sides on the move. Bond Terry, who worked for years at the company, defended the announcement as a good business decision. Mattie Terry questioned why the company had to relocate its headquarters at all.

Another patron, Roy Calbert, said "Halliburton has been ripping off the American public in the Middle East for a long time. And if they want to leave and give up their American citizenship, that would be fine with me.”

[estranged4life]

The Oklahoman
March 13,2007

Halliburton chief heads for center of business, where money is
Destination Dubai

By Adam Wilmoth
Business Writer

Less than two decades ago, Dubai was little more than a fishing village along the Persian Gulf.

Today, the United Arab Emirates capital is a sprawling metropolis filled with samplings of the world's tallest buildings and most unique architecture.

"Dubai is gorgeous,” said Vince Orza, dean of Oklahoma City University's Meinders School of Business. "It is made for executives. It has great golf courses, enormous shopping centers and five-star properties of every kind. It's a world-class city in every way.”

The city's architecture includes the 1,053-foot-tall Burj Al Arab Hotel, the only seven-star hotel on the planet, and the Burj Dubai tower, which is only about two-thirds complete and already has surpassed the world's largest building. Four massive manmade island communities and resorts are under construction on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

Dubai actively has embraced capitalism and Western money and has become home to the Middle East offices of many of the world's largest companies.

The move for Halliburton and other companies to increase their presence in Dubia makes sense because of the growing economies in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Orza said.

"Halliburton does an awful lot of their business in that part of the world, so it makes sense for the same reason that decades ago oil companies moved from Tulsa to Houston,” Orza said. "Tulsa was the oil capital of the world in the '30s and '40s. Then companies moved to the Gulf because that's where the oil was. You go where the money is, and you go where the business is. That's no slight to where you're leaving. It's just an example of how the world changes.”

Dubai's location on the Persian Gulf creates both strategic advantages and disadvantages. The city is among the richest areas in the world for oil and natural gas production and promises to generate many years of business for energy companies who operate in the area.

Dubai also lies just across the Persian Gulf from Iran and is in the back yard of numerous governments and religious and political groups that strongly oppose America and Western interests.

Industry analyst Pierre E. Conner downplayed the safety concerns.

"All these energy companies already have extensive operational exposure to those regions by nature of the proximity of those reserves,” he said. "They already have significant monetary, operational and activity exposure to all those places. In some respect, having management closer and more frequently involved may be able to mitigate that risk by being involved and seeing areas of concern.”

The move also could have political and public relations consequence, especially for a company such as Halliburton that has been publicly maligned for its contracts with the U.S. military and other supposed connections with the Bush administration.

"I don't think Halliburton worries a great deal about political issues or criticism,” Orza said. "They have a job to do, and they do it well. If people don't like them, that is a cost of doing business. Like it or not, they're very good at what they do. That's one of the reasons nations like the UAE seek them out.”

[estranged4life]

Halliburton takes next step: Energy giant keeps prairie roots, adds Middle East city

By Adam Wilmoth
The Oklahoman

Halliburton Co.’s growth over the past 88 years has led it from the prairie of southern Oklahoma to the world’s fastest-growing city.

Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar will head up the company’s new headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but the controversial oil-field services company said it also will maintain its Houston corporate office.

The move is the next step in Halliburton’s strategic plan announced in 2006 to focus on expanding the business more heavily into the Middle East, the company said.

“As we invest more heavily in our Eastern Hemisphere presence, we will continue to build upon our leading position in the North American gas-focused market through our excellent mix of technology, reservoir knowledge and an experienced work force,” Lesar, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement Sunday. “The Eastern Hemisphere is a market that is more heavily weighted toward oil exploration and production opportunities and growing our business here will bring more balance to Halliburton’s overall portfolio.”

Company insists it’s still in U.S.
Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said the company is, and will remain, a U.S. corporation. “With the addition of a corporate headquarters office in Dubai, we join the ranks of many major corporations with multiple centers of senior management,” she said Monday.

“In our case, while the CEO will base his presence in Dubai, all other executive officers reside in Houston with no plans for relocating outside of the United States. As with any large company, our CEO travels extensively, and our previously announced commitment to expanding our presence in the eastern hemisphere makes having a Dubai office a practical accommodation to the needs of our customers.”

Industry analyst Pierre E. Conner said the move should have no immediate effect on Oklahoma operations and likely will help Halliburton’s stock price.

“We see significant growth throughout the rest of the decade out of the Eastern Hemisphere,” said Conner, an analyst with Hibernia Southcoast Capital in New Orleans. “Because of the fact that a large part of the world’s reserves are in that region and a bulk of the spending will come from that region, having a high profile presence there would be positive. I think this may help the stock to some degree with the perception of being more leveraged to the Eastern Hemisphere.”

Investors tend to value oil-field service companies better if a larger percentage of their business is connected with oil and with the Middle East, he said.

Stock gain called symbolic
But investors’ reaction to Halliburton’s announcement to open a Dubai headquarters was lukewarm.

Halliburton shares improved 17 cents, or 0.5 percent, Monday to close at $32.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Analyst Poe Fratt said the announcement largely is symbolic.

“It’s more a move of appearances than actual changes,” said Fratt, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. “I think it stresses the growing importance of international business, including business in the Middle East. Up to this point, the perception has been that Halliburton is more of an American company, a company that’s fortunes are dependent on North America and what happens in natural gas.”

Halliburton has been mired in controversy in recent years, largely because of its connections to the Bush Administration and contracts the company received from the U.S. military in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney served as the company’s chief executive officer from 1995 to 2000. The company has become a lightning rod for war protestors who have rallied at its annual shareholders’ meetings for several years.

Halliburton in May returned its annual meeting to its longtime headquarters of Duncan. Sixteen protesters were arrested peacefully during the meeting.

Military unit spun off
The company is in the process spinning off military contracting unit KBR and has said it will focus on its business of drilling wells and maintaining fields for oil companies.

Halliburton also is being investigated by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of improper dealings in Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria.